Blitz on driving while using a cellphone

Drivers in Dunedin using handheld cellphones are being
targeted by police in a week-long blitz that began yesterday.

Sergeant Tania Baron said she was the "plain-clothed spotter"
of drivers using hand-held cellphones during the hour-long
operation in Castle St, starting at 10.30am.

The seven constables waiting down the road issued four
infringement notices to drivers not wearing seat belts and
three infringement notices for driver behaviour at
intersections, such as failing to stop at red lights, but
there were no infringements for drivers using cellphones for
the morning operation, Sgt Baron said.

But when the operation moved to King Edward St in the
afternoon, two infringement notices were issued to drivers
for not wearing seat belts and two for drivers using
cellphones while driving, she said.

When the use of hand-held cellphones while driving was banned
more than three years ago, the initial compliance by Dunedin
drivers was excellent, but many drivers had reverted to bad
habits, Sgt Baron said.

Drivers caught using cellphones would be fined $80 and given
20 demerit points, she said.

The blitz would continue this week but drivers could be
stopped any where, any time.